Michelle threw her keys on the counter, frustrated near the end of another day. "Dammit!" she said out loud as she talked to herself. "This house is never going to sell!"
Michelle felt herself near tears and took a deep breath to calm herself. She was just so tired. For three months now, she had been working, fixing up the house, and scheduling showings. The latest showing had been just earlier that morning. Nine times she'd cleaned the house spotless for a showing, and how many offers had she gotten? Two...both of them ridiculously low with no sign of being raised any time soon.
Michelle opened the refrigerator, grabbed a bottle of water and slammed the door, wincing as she heard a bottle fall over inside.
"Dammit again! Who's bright idea was this anyway?" she asked, opening the bottle and taking a drink.
Three months ago, her husband Carl had taken a job six states away. It really was too good of an opportunity to pass up, and she had been totally supportive of him. Michelle of course, had stayed behind in order to sell the house and wrap up their affairs. There was also only one more month of school, and Michelle really wanted Anne, her thirteen-year-old daughter, to finish out the school year at her regular school.
It was so hard, though. Michelle and Carl had been married for fourteen years, and they had never been apart more than a week or so in all that time. Michelle missed the adult conversation and company she got from Carl. She missed having him around and felt very empty after so long without him. Michelle shook her head as she also admitted to herself that she was getting so easily frustrated for another reason. The phone sex she had with Carl every so often was nice, always hot and she never failed to cum, but it just wasn't the same thing.
It seemed that about the only thing going right with their plan, was Anne finishing a wonderful end to the school year. Michelle on the other hand, was having a miserable time. There was so much work in selling a house, getting packed, closing accounts, filling out what seemed like hundred of change of address forms. All with no help. All that added to the loneliness and frustration of being separated from her husband. Yep, she was just sick of it, no way around it.
Michelle set the bottle of water down on the kitchen counter. She took a look around, satisfied that the house was clean enough. "Why the hell am I staying here then? I need to get out. Definitely. Hear that? I'm going out!" Michelle yelled to the empty house, notifying no one in particular. Anne was spending the night with a friend and going to her house straight after school. Perfect time for Michelle to go and relieve a little stress. Michelle smiled as she decided to go to her favorite coffee shop, Heavenly Grounds. She loved the cozy interior with both open tables and private nooks set up to curl up with a book and a warm cup of coffee. Or, as Michelle was looking forward to, a warm cup of double chocolate cappuccino with a swirl of cream on top.
Michelle grabbed the book she was currently reading, twirled her keys around her finger and walked out the door, eager to relax. She really hoped one of the private nooks was empty. She just loved the over-sized cushions of all different colors that were spread on the floor and looked forward to lounging for a while, with no worries.
Michelle's friends always teased her about coming to this coffeehouse. "Don't you feel uncomfortable there? It's always full of college aged people, singles, or people there to listen to the poetry or musicians that they have sometimes." Michelle liked it, though. Even at thirty-seven years old, a mother of a thirteen-year-old, and being a devoted married woman for fourteen years, she never felt uncomfortable there. She always felt welcomed and relaxed, almost at home. And she didn't really look that out of place with the regular crowd. There may be a few more lines on her face, a bit more maturity to her features, but the people at the coffeehouse always seemed to enjoy her company and appreciate her presence. Michelle was proud to be accepted by them.
Michelle was very proud of the fact, as well, that she still wore the same size clothes that she did in college. She might not feel as comfortable around the kids if she was a wide-hipped, roly-poly, matronly looking woman. As it was, she filled out her jeans as nicely as any undergraduate, and tighter than most. Her sweater hugged her upper body and provided a very sexy concealment of the swell of her breasts. She might be old enough to be the mom of some of these kids, but she still looked more like a slightly older sister for most of them. With her blonde hair cut short, highlights framing her almost elfin looking face, Michelle always hoped that she would be the mother at school functions that her daughter's friends would think was cool and pretty.
Michelle cursed silently to herself after she placed her order and then opened her purse. "Hellfire!" she thought. She had forgotten that she'd spent most of her cash at the grocery earlier. Biting back her embarrassment, Michelle cancelled the order for her pastry and had to settle for a small instead of a medium or large cappuccino. "Be happy with what you get" she muttered under her breath. Then silently..."Huh, I seem to be repeating that more and more lately, ought to make it my motto." She set her book down on the counter, her drink on top of it as she grabbed several napkins from the dispenser.
As she pulled first one, then another napkin out, from the corner of her eye she saw an arm descending towards the counter. She saw it coming, but was unable to move in time or say anything, as she watched the arm land on the edge of her book, levering it off the counter and catapulting her cappuccino onto the floor. The cup landed the top burst off and the cappuccino splashed onto Michelle's shoes. Michelle closed her eyes as she felt her temper rise. "Bloody hell," she muttered under her breath. She took a deep breath. "Calm down" she thought. She glanced down at her shoe and turned to see what clumsy...
"Oh wow, I am so sorry about that. Gawd, I can't believe I just did that."
Michelle looked down at her shoes and the cappuccino, which had splashed onto them, dotting them with liquid as the rest poured out onto the floor and over her book. She barely heard the man apologize other than to recognize that his voice was masculine and had a nice sound to it. She started to bend down to rescue her book from the cappuccino threatening to stain the pages.
Thunk!
Michelle felt her head hit hard against...yeeoow! This guy was absolutely determined to ruin her day. She stood up quickly to rub her temple, the man straightened also, hand pressed against his forehead.
"Shit, I am so sorry. Again. This isn't exactly my finest hour. Here, let me get that for you."
Michelle winced as she rubbed her temple. She finally focused on the man who seemed determined to ruin the last good thing about her day. The man, if she could call him that, appeared to be in his early twenties. Michelle saw that his tucked in shirt, slacks and casual shoes matched and presented a respectable looking individual. As he straightened up, she elevated her gaze from his shoes. "Youth," she thought to herself, "they have it so good and don't even know it, he probably doesn't even work out." Her gaze took in his legs and the way his muscles pressed against his pants, his narrow waist, which blended in to a flat stomach, his chest and arms almost perfectly proportioned for his frame. His whole form made the statement that he was young and healthy, vibrant and alive. Michelle felt a blush spread across her cheeks as she finally raised her gaze to his eyes, to find them crinkled in amusement.
He held out an open hand to her, smiling. "I'm really sorry ma'am. I'm Kevin. Here, let me make it up to you, what'd you have?"
Michelle told him, then tried unsuccessfully to keep from watching him as he made his way to the counter. Michelle went ahead and grabbed some clean napkins, then stood outside one of the unoccupied private nooks. She waited until Kevin turned and made eye contact with her, to let him know where she was sitting. Michelle entered the nook. The five-foot wall was enough to let in some light, but still afford her some sense of privacy. The nook was lined with huge, soft pillows and one papa-san type chair in the corner. Michelle sat down, reclining amongst the pillows as she flipped her book open, blotting the cappuccino from the pages.
Michelle was just growing disgusted again, after having calmed down, when Kevin popped his head around the corner. His smile was disarming as it spread across his face.
"I hope this'll make up a little for my clumsiness, ma'am." His eyes fairly twinkled as he stepped into the alcove, carrying a large cappuccino with a frothy dollop of cream on top, and a flaky pastry along with it.
Michelle found herself smiling back infectiously. "Stop calling me ma'am, you make me feel like some old lady. My name's Michelle. Thanks for the coffee."
Kevin squatted down beside her, handing her the coffee and pastry, then taking a look at her book. "Damn, hope I didn't ruin it."
"No, I think it'll be fine, got it all dried off. " Michelle glanced up at him and then suddenly found herself patting the cushion next to her. "You're welcome to join me if you want." She noticed as Kevin looked at her hand, taking in her diamond engagement ring and wedding band.
"Well, I don't want your husband to get the wrong impression or anything." His smile never left his face, in fact, it only appeared to grow more mischievous.
